MovieChat Forums > Major Dundee (1965) Discussion > Brock Peters

Brock Peters

posted 16 years ago by Skye_Reynolds
5 replies | jump to latest

Anyone else feel he was underused in this one? I understand that it was 1965, but why bother to make a point of having six black volunteers for Dundee's motley crew regiment if they're not going to do anything with them? They introduced him, had an incident involving a racist confederate, and seemingly forgot about him immediately following. Singing excluded, I don't think he has a single spoken line following the apology from Sgt. Tyreen. They could have at least shown he and his men shooting at the French or the Apache during their struggles. And what was his fate? He's never shown to die, but he seems to have disappeared. Was he killed in one of the Apache ambushes?

The released criminals seemed to disappear after their enlistment as well. The only thing that ever came of them was the drunken horse thief getting shot in that last battle.

[–] ashkanpashakola 16 years ago

i agree. i missed the fight scenes of southern soldires with apaches and i didnt like the village scenes . they could ignore it but they want just some love scenes. but very good movie indeed

[–] bullit2513 15 years ago

Agreed about Aesop and then also the two criminals, Dub Taylor and Slim Pickens. As for Brock Peters, his Aesop is the black soldier killed in the river skirmish with the French. Colonel Tremaine stabs him with a sword to get the flag, and then Tremaine is attacked by Tyreen.

I've always wondered about Taylor and Pickens though. Pickens' Wiley is shown being shot off his horse but never finished off for sure. Then, in the final scene he's clearly not with the survivors. Same goes for Taylor's Priam, he's shown charging into the river at the far end of Dundee's line but not again. Too bad b/c all the other characters get a good send-off.

"Congratulations, Major. It appears that at last you have found yourself a real war." Ben Tyreen

[–] Skye_Reynolds 15 years ago

Thanks, bullit. I must have missed that part. I remember the flag being stolen, but I don't remember it being Aesop. I guess that answers that question. Also, don't forget that the studio edited some footage out. It's possibly that Wiley's death after being knocked from his horse proved too violent for the censor's tastes. That would be my guess, anyway.

[–] Hancock_the_Superb 15 years ago

A lot of the supporting cast suffered a similar fate - maybe one or two big scenes and they become glorified extras. R.G. Armstrong's character appears in the background of a few scenes but doesn't have a lot to do after the campfire scenes (aside from patching up Tyreen's shoulder after the first river battle). That's really the risk of having such a large ensemble though, some characters are going to get the shaft. On the other hand, it does help create sympathy with the company, so when x-minor character bites it, we'll at least (theoretically) feel something.

"I do NOT want your tawdry tales of office lust infecting my newsroom!"

[–] bradford-1 15 years ago

The movie has a treasure trove of character actors, but they are given short shrift. R.G. Armstrong, Brock Peters, Slim Pickens, L.Q. Jones, Karl Swenson, Dub Taylor, Ben Johnson and Warren Oates all in the same movie!